Oil Spill on the Southside Hill

Kevin Aylward, Minister of Environment and Labour, confirmed today that approximately 116,000 litres of diesel oil leaked from one of Irving Oil's southside storage tanks into the surrounding area last Thursday, January 9. The spill was first discovered following a routine inspection of the site by Irving. On Friday, it was discovered by officials of the Government Services Centre and Irving that some of the diesel oil had leaked from the containment dike surrounding the tanks onto the hillside and down into the harbour.

Following a meeting with Irving representatives on Tuesday, Mr. Aylward stated: "We have met with Mark Murray, the regional manager for Irving and Steve Jarvis who is one of Irving's oil spill response specialists for a full briefing on the status of the spill response. We are satisfied with their clean up efforts to date."

Officials from both Environment and Labour and the Government Services Centre have been on site since the spill was discovered and have been working with the company and other government agencies, including the Fire Commissioner's Office, to ensure the leak has stopped the oil is cleaned-up and there are no health and safety concerns.

Mr. Aylward said that the provincial government will continue to participate in joint company/government planning sessions and to monitor Irving's clean up operations. Officials of the Department of Environment and Labour and the Government Services Centre will conduct a full investigation into how this matter was handled to see if proper procedures were followed and to determine and if any legal action is warranted.

Contact: Sean Kelly, Director of Communications, (709) 729-2575.